Bach arrived in Leipzig in 1723. He set about composing a series of cantatas for performance in the city's principal churches through the liturgical year. This one was written for the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were taken from the Epistle to the Romans, rules for life, and from the Gospel of Matthew, the healing of a leper. The unknown poet takes the words of the leper "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean" as a starting point and recommends his attitude of trust for the situation of facing death. In the first movement he contrasts lines of Kaspar Bienemann's chorale "Herr, wie du willst, so schick's mit mir" with three sections of recitative. Movement 3 paraphrases. The words of movement 4 are the leper's words from the Gospel. The closing chorale is the final stanza of Ludwig Helmbold's hymn "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen". Bach first performed the cantata on 23 January 1724, and performed it again in a revised version on 21 January 1748 or 26 January 1749. The music was published in 1870 as part of the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe, an edition of the composer's complete works. The editor was Wilhelm Rust.
Chorus and recitative : Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir
Aria : Ach senke doch den Geist der Freuden
Recitative : Ach, unser Wille bleibt verkehrt
Aria : Herr, so du willt
Chorale: Das ist des Vaters Wille
Music
The opening chorus is based on the first stanza of the hymn "Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir", which is expanded by recitatives of the three soloists. A four-note motif on the words "Herr, wie du willt" is introduced by the horn and repeated throughout the movement. The accompagnato recitatives for all soloists are accompanied by the oboes with material from the ritornello, while the horn and the strings continue the motif. In the final repeat of the ritornello the choir sings the motif, and repeats it in a final "cadenza". In movement 3 the will of man is described as "bald trotzig, bald verzagt", illustrated in the melody. Movement 4 begins without a ritornello. The unusual three stanzas, all beginning with the words "Herr, so du willt", are delivered as free variations and closed by a coda. Similar to movement 1, a motif on "Herr, so du willt" opens and is repeated throughout the movement, finally in the coda. This motif is the beginning of the famous aria Bist du bei mir from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, long attributed to Bach, but written by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. The melody of the closing chorale is based on the French popular song "Une jeune fillette".
